Also known as: ordnance patents.
| Role | Protected and recorded inventions in ordnance |
|---|---|
| Cover | Projectiles, sabots, fuzes, and guns |
| Value | Patent records give the inventor, claim, and date |
Inventing the ordnance
The many projectile, sabot, and fuze systems of the Civil War were largely the work of inventors who patented their designs, and the guns and ammunition that bear names like Hotchkiss, Parrott, Schenkl, and Read trace back to specific patents. The patent record fixes who claimed a design and when.
For the student of ordnance the patents are a primary source, describing the construction and the intended action of a system in the inventor's own terms and dating its appearance.
On this site
Sources & further reading
- CivilWarArtillery.com research archive: patents, manuals, catalogues, and reference pages.